individualistic cultures exist because of christianity.
that’s my guess. i don’t really see another option that holds water. in absence of the belief of each person being precious in the eyes of God – objectively precious – people always fall through the cracks and become putty to be used and discarded by the few ants ruthless enough to scrape to the top of the hill.
but God doesn’t see it like that.
i don’t believe collective societies (eg. China) or individualistic societies (eg. USA) are necessarily better than the other. both bents are vital in different ways. we are made for community. and we all need to be known. and we need to learn from those strong in areas we are weak.
whether a society is ‘christian’ or not isn’t really the point. but if it is individualistic, that’s only even a possible option because of what Jesus did. i think in the absence of Christ, being known never really manifests through purely human means. it kind of gets in the way of the agenda. it’s swimming upstream.
the bible tackles both tendencies. you are judged for your own conduct, not the conduct of your people or even your family. you are special in God’s eyes. wow! but also yikes. you can’t hide in the cracks from him.
but we also die without community. solitary confinement destroys us for no logical reason, but destroys us it does. in genesis god said it wasnt good for the man to be alone. but wasnt god there? is God himself saying thay God wasnt ‘enough’ for adam? it almost sounds heretical if it wasnt God himself saying it. that’s how much he designed us to need each other.
God does not love ‘humanity’. no one loves a collective. he loves each individual. and loved you enough to die for you alone.
and that’s what everything really comes down to in the end. relationships. we are unique. we need that. and we need each other.
every human system eventually becomes a dictatorship with enough time. and the value of the individual has no place there.
without god showing us both halves, we never get the full picture.